Capsuling machine



Jan. 10, 1961 A. WILSON 2,967,384

CAPSULING MACHINE Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

Jan. 10, 1961 I A. WILSON 2,957,384

I CAPSULING MACHINE Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 10, 1961 Filed April 27, 1959 A. WILSON CAPSULING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 10, 1961 A. WILSON 2,967,384

CAPSULING MACHINE Filed April 27, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 5

FIG. 6

CAPSULING MACHINE Alexander Wilson, Wishaw, Scotland, assignor to The Distillers Company Limited, Edinburgh, Scotland, :1 British company Filed Apr. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 809,265

Claims priority, application Great Britain May 2, 1958 3 Claims. (Cl. 53-76) The present invention relates to capsuling machines. In particular it relates to machines capable of continuously capsuling bottles which can thus be introduced into a continuous production line for products contained in bottles having a capsuled opening.

The opening of a bottle, after it has been corked or otherwise sealed, is enclosed in a capsule made from paper, synthetic plastics material or thin metal in order to seal the cork, or other bottle stopper used, and to ornament the finished bottle by giving it a smooth and shapely effect over its closed opening. The capsules are prepared so that initially they fit loosely over the sealed opening of the bottle and various methods have been employed to compress the capsule round the sealed opening of the bottle so that it conforms more or less exactly with the contours of the bottle and is thus firmly held thereon. Throughout this specification the operation of compressing a capsule onto the sealed opening of a bottle will be referred to as capsuling the bottle.

Previous methods for capsuling bottles have employed capsuling heads which contain, essentially, a diaphragm made of resilient material, for example rubber, which is placed over a loosely fitting capsule resting over the head of the bottle. When the bottle is within the diaphragm in this way an external fluid pressure is applied so that the diaphragm is forced against the opening and neck of the bottle. As the pressure is released the diaphragm of resilient material can take up its normal shape leaving the bottle capsuled. Most suitably the diaphragm is shaped so that it can readily be placed over the opening and neck of a bottle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for continuously capsuling bottles in which the diaphragm in the capsuling head is not subjected to fluid pressure in the absence of a bottle within it. A further object is to' provide a capsuling machine which can operate efficiently in a continuous production line and consumes little energy when in an operating production line in the absence of bottles.

Accordingly the present invention is a machine for the continuous capsuling of bottles which comprises in combination; a plurality of capsuling heads of the type described so mounted that they can be moved around a central axis; means for synchronising the movement of a bottle with that of a capsuling head; means for introducing the bottle bearing a loosely filting capsule into and withdrawing the capsuled bottle from the head; and a rotary valve which directs a flow. of oil from a pressure arena pressure.

pump to a head when it is in position to receive a boitle and allows relief of oil pressure in a head before the capsuled bottle is withdrawn therefrom; the outlet ports in the rotary valve being so shaped that oil is cut off from each head just after connection with the next head has been made, and each head containing a valve operated by the introduction of a bottle which allows oil to flow to the outside of the diaphragm in the head when a bottle is in position within the diaphragm and prevents oil flowing to the diaphragm and allows it to return to the low pressure side of the pump in the absence of a bottle within the diaphragm.

The capsuling heads are of the type described above and contain a valve which prevents oil flowing to the outside of the diaphragm and exerting any pressure thereon in the absence of a bottle within the diaphragm in the head. This mode of operation considerably increases the life of a diaphragm because the application of oil pressure to a diaphragm in the absence of a bottle leads to, its distortion and premature ageing. Most suitably a push rod is attached to the diaphragm so that when a corked bottle is inserted within the diaphragm the push rod is moved and operates the valve thus opening a free passage for oil to flow under pressure around the outside of the diaphragm. When no bottle is in the head the free passage between the incoming oil and the diaphragm is closed and a free path is opened between incoming oil and the oil reservoir on the inlet side of the oil pump. Thus when the machine is in operation and no bottle is fed to it, oil from the pump simply recirculates with a minimum loss of power.

The apparatus may comprise any number of heads depending on their size and the rate at which it is desired to operate. The capsuling heads are mounted so that in operation they can be moved around a central axis. The bottles are constrained to move along part of the circle described by the heads and their movement is synchronised with that of the heads so that during their travel along the arc of the circle each bottle is introduced into a capsuling head, capsuled and withdrawn in a continuous manner.

Most suitably the apparatus is arranged so that in operation the central axis is vertical and all the capsuling heads are symmetrically positioned around the axis.

Any means can be employed to introduce a bottle into a capsuling head while they travel synchronously around the central axis. Most suitably a lifter, in the form of a table, operating through a guide and controlled by a cam from a rotating part of the machine can be made to introduce the bottle into the head at the appropriate point in its travel around the central axis.

The bottle is held within the head while the capsuling occurs and then withdrawn. When the bottles are arranged to pass through the machine in a vertical position it is found that the weight of the bottle is sufficient to cause it to leave the capsuling head as the support holding it in the head is lowered. It is preferred that the valve in the capsuling head which is operated by the bottle should be spring loaded so that this spring positively ejects the bottle as the force holding the bottle in the head is removed.

The capsuling heads are operated by oil pumped under Any pump capable of giving sufficient oil pressure to compress the diaphragm round the head of the bottle is suitable. Most suitably the pump is capable of producing an oil pressure considerably in excess of the minimum value and contains a manually adjusted relief valve to prevent excessive pressures being formed within the machine.

By oil is meant a fiuid capable of withstanding the pressures in the machine and having some lubricating properties to ensure the efiicient working of the rotary valve. In order to reduce oil leakage from the rotary valve it is preferred to employ a viscous oil, ie an oil having an S.A.E. number of at least 30, preferably 40. Castor oil and oils having similar characteristics are particularly useful in most machines.

T he outlet ports in the rotary valve are so shaped that the oil supply to each head in turn is cut off just after it has been connected to the next head in the cycle. In this way there is never any build up of oil pressure across the rotary valve and thus leaks are kept to a minimum.

The rotary valve also contains ports which relieve the pressure built up in a head during capsuling by opening a free path for the oil under pressure in the head to the low pressure side of the oil pump. The position of these ports is such that the oil pressure in a capsuling head is relieved before any attempt is made to withdraw the bottle from the head.

The accompanying drawings illustrate diagrammatically a continuous capsuling machine according to the present invention.

Figure l is a plan section through the machine.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the machine along the line II-lI in Figure l; the section of the bottle on lowered bottle table 8 is omitted.

Figure 3 is a plan section of the turret holding the capsuling heads.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the turret along the line IV-IV in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical section through the stationary part of the rotary control valve.

Figure 6 is a side view of the stationary part of the rotary control valve showing the valve ports.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the bottles 5 to be capsuled, bearing loose fitting capsules, are fed to the machine by means of the screw 6 and are positioned in the teeth of the star wheel 7. This feeds the bottles onto round tables 8 which are each positioned beneath a corresponding capsuling head 9 and rotate around the central axis of the machine at the same speed as the capsuling heads. The latter are fixed to a rotatable turret 10, a lower inner surface of which 11 forms part of the rotary valve of the machine through which oil is fed to the diaphragm 12 in the capsuling head. The diaphragm is held in the head by clamping ring 13 and contains a push rod 14, which is forced upwards as a bottle enters the capsuling head. This causes the rocker arm 15 to depress valve 16, which opens a tree passage way for oil to iiow to the outside of the diaphragm when a bottle is within the diaphragm. Valve 16 has a spring 17, which in the absence of a bottle within the capsuling head closes the valve and allows oil pumped through the rotary valve along passage way 18 to return to the inlet side of the pump (not shown) through passage way 19.

The tables 3 are raised by means of lifters 20 con trolled by cams 21 as the tables and heads are rotated around the central axis of the machine. Springs (not shown) maintain the lifters in contact with the cams. A cam is so shaped that its associated table is raised and the bottle is kept in the capsuling head while the diaphragm is compressed against the bottle thus capsuling it and while the diaphragm regains its normal shape as the oil pressure is released through the relief port of the central rotary valve. The cam then causes its associated table to descend and the capsuled bottle moves with it assisted by the action of spring 17. The bottle and table continue to revolve round the central axis and the bottle is received in a further star wheel 22 which feeds the bottle from the machine to, for instance, a continuous conveyor belt.

The movement of the star wheels and the rotation of the tables and the turret are synchronised in gear box '23 so that one bottle is fed to each table as it passes star wheel 7. In this way by the time a. given table has completed one revolution around the central axis of the ma chine eight bottles can have been capsuled.

Figures 3 and 4 show particularly the rotary valve through which the oil at pressure is fed to the capsuling heads. The turret 24 consists essentially of a thick walled cylinder having eight outer faces on which the capsuling heads are mounted. The cylinder is internally drilled to provide eight oil'ways 25, through which oil reaches the capsuling heads. In the absence of a bottle within a head when it reaches the capsuling position the oil is pumped through the valve in the head and returns to the inlet side of the pump through holes 26. As the turret is rotated its inner surface 27 makes slideable contact with the fixed portion of the central rotary valve and each oil way 25 is successively brought opposite the inlet and outlet ports in the fixed portion of the valve.

The fixed portion of the central rotary valve is shown in Figures 5 and 6. The oil pump (not shown) is mounted so as to pump oil through the hole 28 to oil-way 29, leading to the port 30, herein referred to as the timing port of the central rotary valve. Oil reaches the oil pump through the oil-way 31. The oil relief port 32, when brought into direct connection with a capsuling head by rotation of the turret, allows relief of pressure within the head by allowing oil to'fiow back to the oil reservoir and suction side of the pump. The length of the timing port 30 in the fixed portion of the central rotary valve is such that connection with one capsuling head is not broken until connection with the next head has been made and thus high oil pressures in the central rotary valve while successive heads are brought into connection with the pump are avoided.

The oil pump of the capsuling machine described incorporates a pressure relief valve which is set so that the maximum pressure delivered by the pump is the desired pressure to be used for the capsuling process. This depends primarily on the nature of the capsule to be used and the pressure required to compress the diaphragm round the opening and neck of a bottle. In the machine illustrated in the drawings the central pump is capable of forming pressures up to 1000 lbs/sq. in and has a relief valve set to allow a maximum pressure of 450 lbs/sq. in in a capsuling head.

I claim:

1. A machine for the continuous capsuling of bottles which comprises in combination; a plurality of capsuling heads each containing a flexible diaphragm compressible around the neck of the bottle mounted rotatably around a central axis; means for introducing a bottle bearing a loosely fitting capsule into and withdrawing the capsuled bottle from a head; means for synchronising the movement of the bottle with that of the capsuling head; a rotary valve which directs a flow of oil from a pressure pump to a head when it is in position to receive a bottle and allows relief of oil pressure in a head before the capsuled bottle is withdrawn therefrom, the rotary valve having outlet ports shaped to cut the supply of oil off from each head just after connection with the next head has been made, and each head containing valve operating means movable with respect to the head by the introduction of the bottle which operates a valve which directs oil to the outside of the diaphragm in the head when a bottle is in position within the diaphragm and prevents oil flowing to the diaphragm and directs it to the low pressure side of the pump in the absence of a bottle within the diaphragm.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 having the axis vertical in operation, containing a bottle table below each capsuling head, and having means for causing said table to rise during a single rotation of a capsuling head and table around the axis thus inserting the head of a bottle in position thereon within the diaphragm of the capsuling head and then to fall thus removing the bottle from the capsuling head.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capsuling heads are mounted externally on a cylinder, a surface of which forms the sliding surface of the rotary valve, the cylinder containing oil ways connecting the rotary valve ports to the capsuling heads.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

